


Midnight Run

by TaylorMade



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-22 03:42:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14300022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaylorMade/pseuds/TaylorMade
Summary: I was bored. This was the result.





	Midnight Run

** Midnight Run **

It was well past midnight when I surrendered to my insomnia. The night song of the forest surrounding my small home was especially loud that night, rendering sleep virtually impossible. My grandmother's old joke came to me then.

_'Oh, it's nothing... The trees always scream in the summer...'_

Damn cicadas.

It seemed pure exhaustion was my only hope, so I pulled on my old sweats, laced my running shoes, and made my way to the head of the trail. A sprint to the lake and back might be enough to wear me out. The path through these woods was familiar after three years. I had no fear of losing my way. My mind churned as I went, trusting my feet to find their own way. 

It's a misconception that the city is louder than the country. City noise is more insistent, a bit angry sometimes... But the sounds of the country can be just as _loud_... A wolf's howl, the masses of crickets chirping, bird calls, the wind tearing through the trees... The damn cicadas.

I think the lack of human sources simply makes those noises less threatening. Wild animals act on instinct. As long as you know what drives those instincts, it isn't hard to stay out of trouble. The wind and rain are never just out to _get_ you. People are different. Their motives and behavior are unpredictable. They _are_ sometimes cruel just for the sake of being cruel; they derive pleasure from it. No such concept had ever existed in my little sanctuary.

I was nearly a quarter of the way to the lake when the arrival of a friend brought a smile to my face. The little red fox appeared at my side, her pace matching my own.

"Hello, Kit," I greeted her. She glanced up at me and flicked an ear.

 _"Betcha I can beatcha!"_ I imagined her saying with a daredevil grin.

"You're on!" I accepted and together we put on some speed. My hair flew off my neck, caught in the wind as Kit and I tore our way along the path, and my face grew colder even as I began to work up a sweat.

This was something I could never have done in my old life. There were no safe places to run in the world I'd grown up in. Without slowing down, I jumped over the narrow creek that marked the halfway point to my destination.

"Come on, Kit!" I called. "You're not getting tired already, are you?"

A swish of her tail as she darted ahead of me was her reply. A bubble of laughter escaped me as I rushed to catch up. The lake was just ahead now.

Kit stopped short, but I didn't. I plowed straight over the small drop and cannonballed into the water. She sat and lapped the water as she watched me swim back ashore.

She flicked her ear again. 

_"Y'know,"_ she seemed to muse. _"If you stop running_ before _you hit the water, you don't get wet."_

"True," I agreed. "But I bet I cool off faster than you do."

She sprawled out beside me as I pulled myself up on a nearby rock and turned my gaze skyward. Little diamonds against a velvet backdrop stared back at the pair of us.

"You know, you can't even see them where I'm from, Kit."

She lifted her head to give me a disbelieving look.

"No, really," I insisted. "There's this thing called light pollution. It drowns out the view of the stars, like sunlight does during the day. There are other kinds if pollution too. It isn't like it is here. Where I was before... The water had to be filtered before you could drink it or cook with it or bathe in it. The air wasn't even clean. You know how you hate it when I start my truck? That little puff of smoke from the tailpipe and that old engine revving up? That's a constant in the city. And it isn't just my one truck, either. Thousands of those things are running at any given time, Kit, and the _smell!_ It's good that I only have to go into town once a month, let's put it that way. And the town here is really small, not like where I used to live..."

Kit was staring at me now. It was almost as if she understood.

"Anyway, the night sky is something I never thought I'd really ever get to see..."

We were both quiet then. In front of us, the glistening image of the moon rippled as a fish made his meal of some insects at the water's surface. Across the lake, for the briefest moment, I thought I saw a doe. The sound of an owl echoed in the distance.

"I got a letter," I said after some time had passed. "Someone from the city, someone I knew a long time ago... He wants me to go back."

Kit tilted her head at the bitter note in my voice.

"Oh, don't worry," I sighed. "I'm not going anywhere. And they'll never find me out here, that's for damn sure. There's a reason I bought ten square miles of land and put myself in the middle of it."

Kit sat up and wrapped her tail around her front feet. I decided she was saying, _"Good thinking."_

"Yeah, I thought so... It's strange, though, isn't it? They all put so much time and effort into making certain I knew I wasn't welcome, into making sure I knew I was too strange to belong there, and now they want me to go back. Why?"

Kit stared blankly.

"I can't figure it out either. But that's what's keeping me awake tonight."

 _"You didn't belong there because you have always belonged_ here _... You're not a normal human because you were always intended to be part of the_ real _world. I think you know that. Deep down, you know."_

"Maybe." 

That's when Kit did something she'd never done before. She lifted a paw and gently put it on my leg, looking at me. I gave her a sad smile. 

"Oh, Kit... I love you, too." 

I turned onto my side and laid my head on my arm. Kit joined me and before long, we both drifted off with the sounds of the forest as our own, private lullaby. 


End file.
